Day two at the 2024 Italian Open featured 10-time champion Rafael Nadal, who battled back to defeat qualifier Zizou Berge 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to kick off what is said to be his final Rome Masters.
Elsewhere, Francesco Passaro completed his comeback from yesterday, successfully serving out the second set after it was halted last night before prevailing in a tight third set tiebreak where he saved match point.
More Italian success wasn’t far behind. Stefano Napolitano took out lucky loser JJ Wolf, Matteo Arnaldi defeated Harold Mayot, Fabio Fognini found a way past Dan Evans, and Luca Nardi aced Daniel Altmaier.
In fact, the only two Italians to fall were Lorenzo Sonego, who lost to Dusan Lajovic and Giulio Zeppieri, who fell to fellow Italian Matteo Gigante.
You can see the full results from day two below.
Day Two Italian Open 2024 Round of 128 Results
| Winner | Loser | Scoreline |
|---|---|---|
| Jaume Munar | Rinky Hijikata | 6-4, 7-5 |
| Dominik Köepfer | Andreas Vavassori (WC) | 6-4, 6-3 |
| Hamad Međedović (Q) | Alexei Popyrin | 6-3, 6-2 |
| Thiago Seyboth Wild | Gregoire Barrere (Q) | 6-4, 6-2 |
| Corentin Moutet (LL) | Roman Safiullin | 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-2 |
| Matteo Gigante (WC) | Giulio Zeppieri (WC) | 7-6(2), 6-4 |
| Miomir Kecmanović | Brandon Nakashima (Q) | 6-4, 6-4 |
| Rafael Nadal (PR) | Zizou Bergs (Q) | 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| Stefano Napolitano (WC) | Jeffrey John Wolf (LL) | 6-2, 7-6(3) |
| Francesco Passaro | Arthur Rinderknech | 6-7(3), 7-5, 7-6(7) |
| Marcos Giron | Emil Ruusuvuori | 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 |
| Roberto Carballés Baena | Christopher O’Connell | 6-7(9), 5-0 (RET) |
| Jan-Lennard Struff | Pedro Cachin | 6-4, 6-4 |
| Matteo Arnaldi | Harold Mayot (LL) | 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 |
| Jack Draper | Borna Ćorić | 7-5, 6-1 |
| Luca Nardi | Daniel Altmaier | 6-4, 6-4 |
| Dušan Lajović | Lorenzo Sonego | 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 |
| Aslan Karatsev | Mackenzie McDonald | 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| Fabio Fognini (WC) | Daniel Evans | 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 |
| Alexandre Muller (Q) | Marton Fucsovics | 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2 |
| Botic van de Zandschulp (Q) | Nicolas Moreno de Alboran (Q) | 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-6(4) |
Nadal Battles Past Bergs
Rafael Nadal needed to show plenty of resilience in his opening match at the 2024 Rome Masters, overcoming a sluggish start to defeat Belgian qualifier Zizou Bergs 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
After breaking early, the 10-time champion went off the boil, allowing Bergs to take control, and he captured the opening set.
However, even when well past his prime, Nadal still plays with high intensity and he increased his shot power over the next two sets, fending off the five break points he faced to clinch the match in three sets.
Nadal now prepares to face seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz, against whom he’ll need to reduce his unforced errors to stand a chance against the best server on tour this season.
It was not my best match. I was practising better than how I played today without a doubt, but I found a way to win. That is so important at the beginning of the tournament. My game is more unpredictable than before. I didn’t play much tennis for the past two years, so it is up and down. I think I can do much better than I did today and hope I can do it in the next round. It is always emotional to play here. One of the most important events in my tennis career. The crowd has always been amazing with me, supporting me since the beginning of my tennis career, so super excited to play one more time here. Nadal on his win over Bergs
Draper Downs Coric
Jack Draper defeated Borna Coric, last year’s quarterfinalist, 7-5, 6-1, in one hour and 37 minutes. The lefty has the type of game that can trouble all comers. He won 92 per cent (35/38) of his first-serve points and didn’t face a breakpoint.
Draper plays Medvedev in round two. It will be interesting to see how Medvedev shapes up after his injury scare in Madrid, which saw him retire, but he appears to be feeling no ill effects based on the practice footage I have seen.
It was good all round. I served great and moved really well. My return was good. I tried to be aggressive when I could. I thought Borna played excellent in the first set. It was tough; we were both going at each other. Then, I think my quality was good enough, and I won a lot of those tight points to get through. Draper on his win over Coric.
Day Two Highlights
Other Matches of Note
Moutet Sinks Safiullin: A 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-2 win for the tricky Frenchman to set a second-round meeting with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
Mededovic Picks Off Popyrin: The Serb has had a troubled start to the season after dealing with an illness, but he came through qualifying and comfortably saw off the hard-hitting Aussie to book his place in the round of 64.
Struff Stops Cachin: The German won comfortably 6-4, 6-4, and will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the next round.
Giron Routs Ruusuvuori: A fifth straight loss for Ruusuvuori, who’s in a poor run of form, and Giron took him out 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Fognini Edges Evans: A 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 for the wildcard in a challenging match lasting 2 hours and 32 minutes. It was a very back-and-forth match, but Fognini applied much pressure in the third to run away with it 6-2.
Italian Open 2024 Day 3 Round of 64 Matches
- Nuno Borges vs. Alexander Bublik (15)
- Lorenzo Musetti (26) vs. Terence Atmane (Q)
- Luca Darderi vs. Mariano Navone
- Yoshihito Nishioka vs. Grigor Dimitrov (8)
- Ben Shelton (12) vs. Pavel Kotov
- Zhizhen Zhang vs. Adrian Mannarino (19)
- Flavio Cobolli vs. Sebastian Korda (24)
- Jordan Thompson (32) vs. Thiago Monteiro (Q)
- Alexander Zverev (3) vs. Aleksandar Vukić
- Alexander Shevchenko vs. Karen Khachanov (16)
- Taylor Fritz (11) vs. Fabio Fognini (WC)
- Tallon Griekspoor (23) vs. Francesco Passaro (Q)
- Yannick Hanfmann vs. Alejandro Tabilo (29)
- Miomir Kecmanović vs. Casper Ruud (5)
- Francisco Cerúndolo (20) vs. Matteo Gigante (WC)
- Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Corentin Moutet (LL)
